Russell Investments Group Ltd. Trims Stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 495,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,975 shares during the period. Equinix accounts for 0.6% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.51% of Equinix worth $466,789,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equinix by 61.6% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 8,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,946,000 after purchasing an additional 3,212 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Equinix by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 628,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $592,191,000 after acquiring an additional 2,560 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its stake in Equinix by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 243,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $229,263,000 after acquiring an additional 3,164 shares in the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON increased its stake in shares of Equinix by 67.3% during the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 80,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,685,000 after purchasing an additional 32,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Equinix by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,361,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Equinix Trading Down 4.4 %

Shares of EQIX opened at $766.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $74.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.63. Equinix, Inc. has a 1 year low of $684.14 and a 1 year high of $994.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $883.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $906.22.

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $7.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $5.17. Equinix had a net margin of 9.32% and a return on equity of 6.31%. On average, equities analysts expect that Equinix, Inc. will post 33.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equinix Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $4.69 per share. This represents a $18.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. This is a boost from Equinix’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.26. Equinix’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 219.42%.

Insider Transactions at Equinix

In other Equinix news, CEO Adaire Fox-Martin sold 1,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $909.51, for a total transaction of $1,246,028.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,937,268.79. The trade was a 24.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Christopher B. Paisley sold 125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $912.21, for a total value of $114,026.25. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,117,838.49. The trade was a 0.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,054 shares of company stock valued at $17,466,950 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Moffett Nathanson raised Equinix from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Equinix to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Equinix from $1,028.00 to $990.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Wolfe Research raised Equinix from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $978.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Equinix from $1,033.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,007.59.

Equinix Profile

Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) is the world's digital infrastructure company . Digital leaders harness Equinix's trusted platform to bring together and interconnect foundational infrastructure at software speed. Equinix enables organizations to access all the right places, partners and possibilities to scale with agility, speed the launch of digital services, deliver world-class experiences and multiply their value, while supporting their sustainability goals.